Welcome to Gaia! ::

The following RP is taking place over AIM with Leo and Argent between:



&

Melody took a small step back. She winced from the hopefulness in the filly's voice, She couldn't stand to think about what she must think of her mother. A mother that had abandoned her before she'd left her basket.

"Please...don't get too exited, I'm nothing like you probably think I am." She hung her head, unable to be the golden eyes of her daughter.

Rondel laid her ears back taking a step forward and stretching her face up to her mothers. "But...Mother...Momma...Mommy?" Rondel paused mulling over the names. "Momma~!" she said settling on a title. She pranced a little before containing herself. "But why not Momma? I found you. On the first try even." she said she then sobered and drooped visably. "Don't...don't you like me Momma?"

Just like Melody had expected, she knew she'd be a let down as a mother. Mel didn't even know her daughters name, she didn't know any of her foals names. She could see the disappointment in her daughters face, and she couldn't let that go on. If she could be kind to other foals, then why was she having such a hard time with her own?

"No...no, I love you. Sooo much, but you wouldn't want me around. I've made a terrible mess of thing with you father...and...I don't even know what to call you..." Melody was shaking with tears now, to think that she was the cause of this..

Rondel moved forward to snuggle against Melody's front legs. "I love you too Momma." she smiled and peered up at her. "I'm Rondel. Rondel Forte Amachi. Its a big name, but I do okay with it." she said with a nod. "And I have a brother and another sister. They're okay...but..." she shrugged. "I don't think I fit in with them. Nothing against them...just...I'm different." she said with a nod.
The little filly then darted away from her mother remembering how dirty and unkept she was. "Sorry, Momma...I'm all dirty and I don't want to mess you up, you're so pretty after all."
She looked at her tail which was still messy before looking up at Melody. "How come it didn't work with Papa?" she asked.


How was Melody supposed to explain to Rondel that her and her sibling had been the problem? Everything had been going fine until the day she discovered she was pregant. Mecho had been so happy, and she had too originally, but then she really thought about it. And the more the thought of herself as a mother, the worse things became for the two of them.

"I'm not sure...some things just aren't meant to be." She bent down and nuzzled her daughter lightly, trying to think of something motherly to say. "Aren't foals supposed to get messy? Don't worry about me, I don't really care what I look like."

"So if you love me, you don't love Papa anymore?" she asked letting logic take her to the only possible answer she could come up with.
Rondel giggled at the nuzzling. "I guess so, it just seems...wrong that the first time you meet me I'm all messy and looking horrible. I usually look much better." she said. She then let a bird over head catch her attention and distract her for a moment. "Its so big out here." she said voice full of childlike wonder. "So much better than being stuck under the trees." she turned to look back up at Meoldy. "Have you ever been under the trees?"

Rondel opened her mouth then closed it before staring embarrassed at her hooves. "Yeah...about that...he doesn't know I left." she muttered. She instantly snapped her head up and looked defiant. "But I can take care of myself. I got here, I'm not in terrible shape. Just...tired...and dirty...which you said is normal for a foal, I'm supposed to be dirty and tired cuz I spend all day doin' stuff."
She sighed. "I guess I shoulda told him though...I guess that was wrong of me...but," she shuffled a hoof. "I dunno...I'm just not good at talking. I'm a doer I guess is the word."
"I just wanted to spread my wings...see how far I could go...Please don't send me back, Momma..." Rondel grasped for straws trying to think of a good reason. "I could stay with you~" she said with a smile. "We'll take on the world~" she said with a hint of mischief.

Melody thought about that, it wouldn't be so bad would it? What had she expected would happen? She'd never see her foals? No, she knew one day she'd have to face them, but she couldn't believe Rondel had run away, and to her no less. What would Mecho think? That his daughter had abandoned him just like his first love? He'd be worried out of his mind.

She considered maybe taking her back to him, so Rondel could explain her feelings. It would be wrong to just take off with her daughter without explaining anything to Mecho. And what of the other two? How could she run away with Rondel and not be reminded every single day of her other foals. But Rondel was obviously hopeful.

"What....if I went back with you...to talk to Mecho? He's probably worried out of his mind about you. It would be unfair of me to run off with you..." Did she want to travel with her daughter? Would her daughter really love her after they spent days alone together?

Rondel planted her feet and looked rebellious. "But I don't want to go back..." she said with a definite whiny tone of voice. "I wanna stay here!" she said stamping her foot. "I came all this way to see you and see the world, I don't wanna go back to that boring herd." she moaned. "I'm sure Papa will understand...maybe..." she went on quickly. "Someday I'll go back and tell him but I don't want to right now." she said.
She looked up at Melody. "Haven't you ever had a dream Momma?" she asked hopefully. "A dream where you wanna do things and accomplish things...make a mark on the world and say 'Hey~ I did that~!'" her eyes were wide looking like a forlorn little puppy. "Besides, I'm with you. How bad off can I be?"

Melody couldn't believe she was actually considering this. How bad off could she be? Really? Melody was an expert trader and obviously a top-notch explorer. And then there were her dancing lessons. She thought about actually teaching Rondel how to dance, how much fun could they have traveling together? She couldn't see the harm in it. But, if she could accept one of her foals now, what of the other two? How had she been so ignorant of them in the begining?

"I...I don't know..." She hadn't been prepared for anything like this happening. Years down the road, when Rondel explained to her father, if she ever really would, how would he take the stunning news? For now....for now she couldn't see the harm in testing things out.

"I guess it couldn't be so bad..." She said, with a bit of a sigh. She had had dreams, but now she wasn't so sure of them.

Rondel grinned. "I promise I'll be good, Momma! I won't be any trouble at all! I learned lots on my way here, how to avoid wolves and stuff, and what not to eat, I promise you won't regret it! I'm brave, and strong, and smart! I'll learn what you want to teach me, try anything once."
Rondel managed to get her joy back under control and hold herself still. "I promise you won't be disappointed in me, Momma." Rondel looked up at her with love and devotion. "I just want to be your little filly~" she said.

Melody smiled, and suddenly she felt that this might actually be good for her. She could handle the responsiblity, or so she hoped. "Obviously, we need to start off by finding somewhere to rest for the night." She glanced around and noticed a small groupf of trees a bit to the right. That looked like a nice place to settle down.

"Right over there, we can talk more in the morning." She nudged Rondel off in the right direction and then started at a slow gallop. Rondel was bound to be seriously tired after traveling so far just to find her.

Rondel nodded and trailed after Melody half a sleep. Once under the trees she happily curled up close to her mother feeling safe and happy.
The next morning dawned with the weather looking fair. Like all youngsters Rondel was already mostly recovered and awake with the song birds. She frisked in the open under the sky watching seed heads drift on the breeze, the bells on her harness making a ruckus.

Melody had had a terrible dream that night, and couldn't have been happier to wake up to the sound of bells. She was confused at first, then she remembered Rondel and she was up in a flash. She watched the little filly hop around in the fresh morning air, and she actually smiled.

"Good morning Rondel~ Which direction would you like to head in today? Or, would you like to do something else?" She inquired, still keeping a close eye on the filly.

Rondel stopped and smiled up at Melody. "Morning, Mama." She then looked around her ears flicking as she thought. "I dunno...which way do you usually go? Didn't you say something about trading? What does that mean? Is it hard?" she asked her curiosity suddenly ablaze.

Melody smiled, "Trading is a fairly easy concept. Usually, I trade dancing for food and things like that. Then, you can trade apples, or grape fruits, and so on." Now that she thought about it, it could be a bit longg to explain, and she didn't usually trade unless she was passing though a heavily populated area.

"And I usually go whichever way comes to mind first. I don't have any exact location in mind..." She trailed off and looked over the horizon, no direction looked better then the last.

Rondel nodded. That sounded easy enough. "Okay." she scanned the horizon before finally pointing in a direction with her nose. "How bout that way, Momma? Does it look okay?" she asked.
She barely waited for an answer before letting another torrent of questions out. "And about dancing, how do you do it? Is that hard, when will you teach me?" she asked letting them all blurr into one mess.
Rondel then colored slightly. "You must wonder when I breathe..." she said looking embarrassed.

Melody smiled, "Yes, because of your father and me." She wondered if any of the rest of her foals loved to dance and were as happy as Rondel seemed to be all the time. She pictured them with him now, making all sorts of crazy noise and for the first time began to wonder exactly what she was missing out on. Would it always be like this for her?

"Well, if I ever do something you don't agree with, you should always let me know. We're a team now you and I." Melody said, as she scanned the horizon. They were getting closer to the river now, and they could follow that back to the forest. They need to find some food for the day.

Rondel nodded and followed along happily. "I will. I promise." she said. She bounced along the bells on her harness making a song with every step she took.
As they walked along, Rondel spent half her time chatting happily with her mother on completely random subjects the other running around. At one point she shoved her head down a gopher hole and came nose to nose with the resident. "Oh...sorry..." she grinned and hurried after Melody with the gopher's angry chatters following after her. "He's grumpy..." she muttered nuzzling against Mel.

Melody was amazed by just how much Rondel could talk. Every now and then Melody would answer a question, and half the time before she could finish explain, Rondel would just carry on again. She certainly was curious, and she couldn't help but think she'd gotten this way mostly because of Mecho. When Rondel came trotting up beside her, and gave her a soft nuzzy, she glanced back to see the angry gopher and broke out into a cheery laugh, it was obvious Rondel had gotten her sweet chimey voice from her mother. When exactly was the last time she'd laughed like this?

"Well~ You probably interupted his time with his family." She smiled and eventually they came to a small grove with some assorted fruit trees and berry bushes. She informed Rondel on which ones to leave alone and then let her have at it.

"I guess..." she said. She then smiled as Melody laughed. She'd never heard her mother laugh before and was amazed at how much they sounded alike. It was amazing, for the little filly, finally having found a place where she felt at home.
Once in the grove Rondel listened intently and nodded taking in the information, before diving happily into one of the bushes. She emerged a short time later a juice stained mess and went to the water's edge getting a drink and trying to clean off the worse of the juice. "Ugh...sticky..." she muttered before trotting back to Melody. "I like this place." she said looking around. "I'll remember it." she nodded.
She snuggled against Melody and murmured. "I love you, Mama."

Melody watched as Rondel basically disappeared into one of the bushes, thankfully the filly had paid attention to her and dove into a non-poisonous one. She was surprised by how smoothly things were going for the two of them so far. She wondered if she had the skill to be a parent after all, or if Rondel just loved her because she'd just be a story til now. She decided to worry about that later and bit into an apple that had recently fallen to the ground. She ate a few more and then Rondel popped into the grove all sticky.

There was Melody's laugh again and Rondel trotted over and snuggled against her. "And I love you too little bell~" She smiled, and knew that she'd remember this place for a long time now too. It was the first time she actually felt like a mother.

Rondel's face broke into a wide smile. Her heart nearly filled to bursting at hearing her mother's love in words. She giggled and frisked around playfully before gently slowing her movements and began to sway and twist allowing her bells to weave a song around her movements.
She continued on for several more moments before stopping. "I did what you said, Mama. I let the music guide me." she said with a grin. "I thought it wouldn't hurt to practice. Never know when you'll need it." she smiled then looked around. "So what's next?"

Melody watched Rondel as she danced around, and was amazed by how easily she was catching on. She'd been teaching other foals for so long and they never caught on as quickly. Of course, she knew Rondel must have that natural talent, after all both her parents had.

"Well...we could move on, or we could stay here for the rest of the day and dance some more." They had about half a day left to spend together, and she wasn't sure if they headed out now, they'd come across another nice spot to stay like this grove.

Melody agreed that it would be a good place to pratice for a while. And to just generally relax for the day. Of course, Rondel changed her mind quickly, and the next thing Melody knew she was bouncing after her filly into the water. She'd never really been one to play around in water, but she soon admitted it was fun.

Rondel grinned up at Melody as they splashed around. As the day progressed Rondel finally focused enough to let Melody teach her some of the more intricate movements that she used in her dancing.
As the afternoon progressed Rondel yawned and curled up under one of the fruit trees and dozed in the fruit scented air.

Melody was beyond happy that day, she couldn't believe she'd given this up. What had been wrong with her? Mecho probably asked that question a lot too. She spent the last bit of the day, teaching Rondel all of the perfect steps to go with her bells. And so, when the evening came, she was just as tired as her filly. She curled up near Rondel and was out like a light in no time.

The sun had been set for several hours when Rondel awoke and looked around. The moon was just beginning to rise and the stars beginning to sparkle.
Rondel glanced over at Melody and tried to curl up and go back to sleep but it escaped her. It was then that a will-o-wisp from the nearby swamp caught her attention. The filly was instantly up and darting after it.
It wasn't long until the filly was lost and the night was gone.

When Melody woke up in the morning, the first thing she noticed was that Rondel was gone. But she wasn't too worried, she'd hoped the filly had just gone back to the water, or was maybe hiding in a bush. But, after a while of searching, and calling out her name, she really begane to worry. She had a terrible feeling that she wouldn't be seeing Rondel again for a long time.

The little filly had bid her goodbyes and thanks to the strange mare who had lived in the swamp when she suddenly heard Melody calling for her. "Momma! Momma!!" she put on a burst of speed her bells chiming out happily as she skidded to a stop in front of her mother. "I'm sorry! I woke up in the middle of the night and saw a will-o-wisp, and I followed it into the swamp and it was sorta scary, but then the Voodoo Lady showed me the way out after I danced for her and she wasn't so mean as she thought she was." she gushed out all in a rush, anxious to get her story out to her mother.

Melody actually felt a little bad for the way she'd spoken to Rondel before, so she tried to perk her up instantly. "Hey, I know a nice little place further into the forest, then we can follow the RIver and head to the moutains later. Does that sound like a plan?" She asked, trying to cheer her up a bit.

Rondel's ears perked up and nodded. "Okay~ Sounds like fun~" she snuggled against Melody before bouncing off a bit and then turning to wait for her mother to catch up.
The little filly was almost as good as her word and stuck close, only stopping to graze and when a black colt caught her attention and she stopped to play with him for awhile.
Towards the end of the day Rondel sleepily and sluggishly moved alongside Melody. "Are we almost there yet?" she asked trying not to whine.

They traveled for a while, and along the way Melody would stop and teach Rondel about new animals and plants. At some point, Rondel ran to play with a colt, but Melody didn't mind. She was starting to realize that no matter what Rondel got into, she'd always come back. Eventually, they came to an...odd area to say the least.

There was a big rock formation, and if you looked at it closely it looked like a shell. Like someone had picked up a little bit of the beach, and shoved it into a forest enviornment. "Here we are~" She smiled, and realized just how late it was.' "But it cane wait til the morning, you look sleepy."

Rondel absorbed all that Melody had to teach her like a sponge. The little filly's curiosity was nearly unquenchable.
The huge formation caught her attention again, and she perked up enough to stare at it curiously. "Where did it come from? Has it always been here? Why is it like that?" she asked in her endless way. "Its like...like...Like one of those shells that was on the beach back at the grove." she finally said coming to her own conclusion. A yawn broke through anything else she could say and she nuzzled close to Melody taking comfort in her mother's warmth.

Melody laughed, "It's always been here, and has been a huge mystery to everyone. But, it's just a rock, despite it's looks." She curlled up on the ground, near the warm rock and surrounding trees. Rondel instantly curled up with her and she couldn't be happier to have another night with her. "Good night little Bell~"

"Good night, Momma....I love you." she murmured snuggling close and instantly dropping off to sleep.
Unlike the previous night Rondel slept through the night and didn't stir until early the next morning.
The sun was just starting to creep over the horizon when she stretched quietly and looked around. While plenty of grass around, there wasn't the bounty of the grove from the other day. That was then Rondel remembered the red berries that the Voodoo Mare had shown her in the swamp. Rondel grinned to herself and slipped quietly towards the woods. With any luck she could find some then be back to Melody before she knew her Little Bell had gone anywhere.

Melody wasn't fast enough to wake up before Rondel again that morning. And, not surprisingly, the filly had wandered off again. This time, she wasn't too concerned, not yet. She hoped that if she just stayed here for a while, she'd return. So, she grazed for a bit and even danced a little. She hadn't been happy enough to practice her art lately, so she let herself go wild with it. It didn't take her too long to realize that Rondel was taking longer then usual...

Rondel wandered deep into the woods. It was only vaguely that she noticed the passage of time. It was when she finally saw the sky from between the trees that she realized it was close to Noon. "Oh, Momma..." she whispered. She quickly tried to go back the way she'd come only to realize again that she couldn't exactly remember. "Oh...no no no..." she whimpered.
Rondel quietly leaned against a tree and cried knowing she'd messed up worse than she'd ever done before. "Oh, Momma...I'll come home to you...I promise, I promise..." she sniffed then stiffened her resolve. No matter what she'd find her way back to Melody.